CHAPTER PAGE [I. Khaki Boys in the Sunny Southland.] 3 [II. Among the Puzzling Swamp Water Trails.] 13 [III. Camp-Fare.] 23 [IV. Some Woods Lore.] 32 [V. Bumpus on Guard.] 40 [VI. The Night Prowler.] 48 [VII. The Heart of a Scout.] 57 [VIII. Looking Backward.] 65 [IX. “Combing” the Swamp Labyrinth.] 76 [X. Was the Mystery Solved?] 86 [XI. Alligator Smith, the Guide.] 95 [XII. What a Scout Stands For.] 104 [XIII. More Trouble All Around.] 113 [XIV. Swamp Tactics.] 119 [XV. Still Bumping Bumpus.] 127 [XVI. Ricky’s Post Office.] 138 [XVII. The Sheriff’s Round-Up Posse.] 148 [XVIII. A Surprise.] 157 [XIX. Joining Forces.] 165 [XX. The Scouts Show the Way.] 173 [XXI. On the Trail.] 182 [XXII. The Man-Trap.] 190 [XXIII. An Anchor to Windward.] 201 [XXIV. The Oasis in the Quaking Bog.] 211 [XXV. Playing “Second Fiddle” to a Boy.] 219 [XXVI. Polly.] 227 [XXVII. Mr. Jasper Surprised.] 236 [XXVIII. The Mystery Solved—Conclusion.] 242
THE BOY SCOUTS
DOWN IN DIXIE
CHAPTER I.
KHAKI BOYS IN THE SUNNY SOUTHLAND.
“That’s always the way it goes!”
“Why, what’s the matter with you now, Step Hen; you seem in a peck of trouble?”
“Who wouldn’t be, when some fellow went and hid his hat away? Didn’t you all see me hang the same on this peg sticking out from the trunk of the pine tree, when we-all came ashore to eat lunch; because that’s what I did, as sure as anything?”
“Oh! you think so, do you?”
“I know it as well as I know my name. Think because I’ve got a stuffy cold in my head just like Bumpus here says he has, and can’t smell, that I don’t know beans, do you? Well, you can see for yourself, Davy Jones, my nice new campaign hat ain’t on the peg right now.”
“Do you know why that’s true, Step Hen? Because a thing never yet was known to be in two places at the same time. And unless my eyes are telling me what ain’t so, you’ve got your hat on right at this minute, pushed back on your head! Told you, boys, Step Hen ought to get a pair of specs; now I’m dead sure of it.”
The boy who seemed to answer to the queer name of Step Hen threw up a hand, and on discovering that he did have his hat perched away back on his bushy head of hair, made out to be quite indignant.